I have been a bit fixated lately on knowing how well I would be doing by now without my excess weight. I’ve been at this for 6 months now, and I feel strong, but anything cardio always kills me. I wanted to know if that is because of the extra kilos, or if my lungs are just shit.

So I proposed the challenge to Royce of a workout with 40kg on him. Now Royce weighs a couple of kilos more than me, but I have 50kg+ to lose and he has 13kg so it evens out if he wears 2 20kg vests. Of course I was just thinking something like Helen, but Royce took the idea one step further, or 1000 steps!…………….Sorry, I had to!

During the Paleo challenge we did the 1000 steps in Melbourne, and it nearly killed me! It took me easily twice as long as everyone else, and my legs were shaking by the end of it. I had to constantly stop for breathers, but thankfully I never sat down. Royce stayed with me the whole time, but he looked like he was going for a leisurely stroll through the shops, whereas I looked like I was being chased by a pack of rabid dogs!

So Royce decided to do the 1000 steps again, wearing the 2 20kg weight vests, and because it sounded stupid and crazy, Chase decided he had to do it as well!

I can’t believe they did it! It means so much to me that they would put themselves through that just to better understand what I deal with every day. They even tried a few push ups at the top!

If you have someone who you are trying to help motivate to lose weight, I would definitely recommend something like this. I think its important to understand that if you can run faster or jump higher its not always because you’re stronger or fitter, sometimes its because they are carrying more than you realize.

That’s why I love when we do partner carries at the box! I weigh as much as a lot of the female pairs on my own, and its great to see that no matter how fit you are, you’re going to slow down with that much load on you

It was an amazing show of solidarity, It really inspired me to push harder. If I can keep up as well as I do now, Imagine what I will be capable of when I’m not carrying an extra person worth of weight!

They survived it, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant for them. I will always be grateful to them for helping me to put things into perspective.

I can’t wait until I’ve lost my weight and I can go back with 50kg on me and do the steps again!

1 banana split open like a hot dog bun (don’t cut through the skin underneath!) walnuts, dried fig, cinnamon, honey, coconut oil or butter. In a preheated oven on 180C until its golden and mushy, which takes about 10 minutes.